Wednesday, August 31, 2022

A writer's note

 

Out and about, looking for inspiration . . . and buzzard feathers. (Photo from personal collection)


Agatha Christie said the perfect time to plot a novel was over the washing up. Personally, I find that long walks along countryside paths are great to spark inspiration. There's plenty of time and space to play out conversations. To run through scenes and scenarios. To ponder ideas, and other points of view. If I remember to take a notebook with me, it can be a very productive walk indeed!

But, once ideas have bloomed and burst into life, what then? What to do with those ideas? Well, some of them simply fizzle out, as sparks often do. Brilliant little things that die in cold darkness. Others are tossed into a notebook, perhaps the spark that will ignite a flame. And sometimes they do – a poem, a blog post, a short story . . .


It's the lot of the struggling writer. I try to nurture these ideas, navigating everyday demands, tiredness, a lack of money, and the echoes of mocking voices bouncing of the walls of my mind. Unfortunately, so far, I am better at struggling than I am at writing. Or, at least, writing something that gets into print. And, to be honest, puts money in my pocket.

I am fairly certain that I am a good writer. I'm not so daft as to think myself a great writer, but I do think I am a good one. At least good enough that I could match others which have found their audience.

My problem, I think, is not the quality of the writing that I can produce. No, it's the procrastination, the tiredness, and, you know, life. That's why books like The Organised Writer by Antony Johnston find their way onto my shelves. A hope to overcome the only flaws I know I can really do something about, my own.


Writers, how do you find ideas? And, how do you navigate life's little demands?



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